


Dinner Party

by Nyssareen



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, I really have no idea what tags to use, Jealousy, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 23:47:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15472767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyssareen/pseuds/Nyssareen
Summary: Jack tries not to feel jealous of the Doctor and Rose's relationship as they go to a fun little party with the Caniffols





	Dinner Party

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic so I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. I want feedback, but please, be kind!

“I think what the Doctor means to say is; You may cut in.” Rose smiled and offered her hand to Jack, he smiled and moved to take it. She was so beautiful and great to talk to, he was really looking forward to getting to know her better. The Doctor wasn’t bad either, maybe he could get to know him better too. The moment he touched her hand though, the Doctor suddenly declared “I’ve just remembered, Rose, I can dance. I can dance!” He danced toward her, hand extended. Rose looked at him, seeming slightly reluctant “Actually, Doctor, I thought Jack might like this dance.” He kept dancing and nodded “I’m sure he would, Rose, I’m absolutely certain. But who with?” The Doctor glanced at him and Jack grinned slightly. Maybe this would go better than he had thought. Before he could complete the thought, Rose had run up the ramp to the Doctor and they started dancing, ignoring him completely. What just happened here? Jack leaned against one of the coral pillars and watched them, disappointed, but, oddly, not surprised. He really should have noticed sooner. It was obvious. They were in love with each other.

**********

Over the next few months, Jack got over any ideas of ‘getting to know’ either of them better that might have survived beyond the first day. His heart still lept sometimes when the Doctor said or did certain things and Rose could melt his heart with a look, but he tried to keep it from showing.

**********

“Jack, come hold this down. Quick!” the Doctor yelled, nodding to a lever he was holding as sparks exploded from the console. His hand stayed put until Jack had grabbed hold touching his hand for a few seconds before moving away. Jack looked down at his hand, which tingled slightly at the point of contact. He looked over at the other man, just in time to see him nod to his other hand and yell “Rose, come hold my knob for me and I’ll keep trying to fit that rod into the slot. It’s too big for you to manage.” All three of them looked at the scanner screen, which had suddenly come to life of its own accord. Why were they suddenly watching Nicholas and Nicole spin across the floor on Strictly Come Dancing?

**********

“Jack, come help me put this up, please, I can’t reach.” Rose called across the galley, holding up a piece of string she was trying to fix to the wall. She always insisted on hanging her underthings up to dry, even though the TARDIS could clean them perfectly without hanging them anywhere. Not that he minded looking at Rose’s lacy bras and knickers hanging across the room, but they did get in the way of the microwave. As he moved toward her, she added, in an annoyed tone “I usually just watch while The Doctor gets it up for me, but he insisted on seeing whether Peter & Erin won this week.” Jack reached up behind her, suddenly annoyed. His touched hers as he took the string from her and attached it to the hook above her head. God, she smelled good.

**********

Jack was under the console, checking all the wires to find the crossed connection. Every time they tried to use the scanner to check outside, the screen showed another round of the dancing competition instead. While they enjoyed rooting for their favorites, it didn’t exactly help them figure out whether they would get welcomed, eaten or jumped if they left the TARDIS. He stood up and started “Hey, Doc, I can’t find the…” He trailed off as he looked across the console to see the Doctor and Rose standing together. He was standing behind her, right behind her, much closer than was necessary, really. His arm was resting along hers from shoulder to hand with his hand clasped over hers on a lever. “You just have to yank it if they won’t open on their own. You have pull, but don’t jerk it off or you’ll get a reaction you probably aren’t expecting.” He pulled their hands down, sharply, slamming the lever against the console. All three heads snapped toward the door. A giant yellow lizard roared and charged the TARDIS as Mark & Karen were named the winners of series 4. “Close it! Quick!”

**********

“They’re really quite friendly people, the Caniffols, I visited them about...well, I don’t remember how long ago. I think it was a few years later than where we are now, but I’m sure they’re just as nice. They have beautiful cities. Thousands of little houses in all different colors of the rainbow with giant spires of shining metal raising high above the city. Everything other than living quarters are in the towers. Workplaces, shopping, hospitals, cinemas. They have the best movies there. Their version of Casablanca is the best in the galaxy.” 

Jack checked the scanner. They had never found the loose connection, but after series 4 ended, it had gone back to showing what it was supposed to. Maybe the TARDIS had just wanted to see who won. There was a tiny village of brightly colored grass huts gathered around a bright white building and what looked to be a large fire pit not far off. “So, it may be more than a couple years before I was here last. But, like I said, they’re very nice people and they can’t have changed that much. Let’s go talk to them.” 

Rose slipped her arm through his and he rested his hand over hers as they walked through the doors. Jack watched them looking at each other and his heart ached. Even though he had long since given up trying to get anywhere with either of them, well, almost, he still wished someone would look at him that way. He thought about how much he had changed since joining them in the TARDIS. He still wanted to get to know every different kind of person he could, he was sure that would never change, but he also wished that once, just once, someone would look at him the way they looked at each other. He shook his head and followed them down the ramp and out the door.

The village consisted of 10 buildings, all but one appeared to be individual homes. The homes were built of some kind of heavy, pale blue grass. The roofs were made of a strange sort of plant that looked like a cross between a reed and a flower. There were long strands of pure white, but one side of each strand was covered in lush petals of every color. It seemed strange that they hadn’t removed the petals before weaving them into thatching, maybe they just liked the way it looked. The doors were long strands of more bright petals that were strung together into curtains, but Jack couldn’t tell what held them together. Everything on this planet was so brightly colored it almost made his eyes water, but it was still beautiful. It was like stepping into a drawing done by a child who had been given a brand new pack of crayons and wanted to try out every color.

The walls and roof of the large building were made from thick, pure white bamboo and with no petals anywhere, giving the entire building a shining quality compared to the brightly colored buildings around it. There was a wide opening, covered with small pieces of the thin reeds, stripped of their petals and strung together into bead curtains that opened onto the pit. The pit was about 10 feet across and 5 feet deep. A bit bigger than one would expect for a village this small, but maybe it got incredibly cold at night, or they worshipped a fire god of some sort. Jack didn’t judge. 

The Caniffols were considerably shorter than a human, and looked almost like they could be children from Earth, if not for their bright coloring. They had pale green skin and hair in every shade of the rainbow, but no dark browns or blacks. When they approached the village, they were greeted by a mass of rainbow colored heads behind a line of taller men pointing spears their direction.

“We come from a village far away!” The Doctor shouter and was met with angry growls and the spears raised menacingly. Jack could tell he was trying to figure out a way to backtrack and take a different tack. He was, not for the first time, a bit annoyed that the Doctor refused to let him carry a weapon. “But...we...barely escaped from them...they weren’t pleasant at all, not like you good people!” That seemed to make them a little happier and the spears lowered slightly. “We come bearing gifts!” was met with a further lowering of the spears. The Doctor started patting his pockets, looking for something to offer. Rose suddenly pulled off her necklace, earrings and rings and offered them up. They were simple trinket type jewelry made of cheap metal with not much ornamentation, but the Caniffols seemed taken with them, nonetheless. 

A taller man, who seemed to be the leader, cautiously moved forward to take them. He examined them closely, then placed the necklace around his neck and the rings on his fingers. He looked at the earrings, curiously, for a moment before hooking them onto the necklace and declared, “Welcome strangers!” in a squeaky voice. Jack grinned, forcing himself not to sing ‘As Mayor of the Munchkin City, in the county of the land of Oz!’ The Doctor glared in Jack's direction, as if he knew what was going through his mind.

They were each pulled down, in turn, to have garlands of flowers placed around their necks and crowns of flowers on their heads. The Caniffols seemed to be fascinated with the trio’s hair since it was not as brightly colored as their own, especially the children. A tiny girl with neon pink hair kept pulling at Jack’s trouser leg to get him to bend down for her to touch his hair again. The people didn’t speak much, mostly just oos and ahs of fascination. Jack would have wondered if they could talk at all, if not for the direction of the leader to bring them to the town hall.

They were led to the white building and sat on chairs at the head of a long, empty room. Jack was a little unsure of the small, reed chairs, since they clearly hadn’t been made with people their size in mind, but they were surprisingly sturdy. The Caniffols were obviously skilled builders. The leader came and stood next to them declaring, “The strangers will be our guests of honor. Let the celebration begin!” There was a squeaky cheer and drinks started being passed around while some young men took up some stringed instruments and a drum. 

It didn’t really get any colder after the sun went down, and the fire pit was never lit. Jack was sitting by the door, taking a breather from the dancing and vaguely wondering about it, when Rose’s bright laughter interrupted his thoughts. He turned to find her and the Doctor dancing together, big shock there. He had his arms around her waist and she clung to his neck as they spun around and around, surrounded by little, brightly colored couples spinning around them. It was at once beautiful and ridiculous. A fat little woman about the size of a 12 year old came up and offered her hand, silently asking him to dance with her. Jack didn’t want to offend, but he wasn’t sure how he would do the spinning dance with her without picking her up and he wasn’t sure it that would offend her either. Fortunately, the dance ended and the couples started doing a dance like a fast waltz. He was pretty sure he could manage that.

A few hours later, the party was still going strong, but the TARDIS crew was starting to get tired. The Doctor was sitting against the wall by the door with his arm around Rose, who was half asleep against him. Jack was sitting on one of the little chairs, having another drink and watching them idly. None of the Caniffols seemed to be getting tired as the party continued around him. The little girl with the neon pink hair came over and tugged at Jack’s sleeve. He was expecting to be asked if she could touch his hair again, but instead, she whispered in his ear “Do you need sleep?” It was the first time any of the children had said a word and it was the cutest thing he had ever heard. Her voice was squeaky and musical, like she’d taken a lungful of helium and started singing. He yawned. “Yeah, it’s been a while since we got any sleep.” The little girl nodded and ran over to the leader. She whispered in his ear and pointed toward Jack. The leader nodded down at her and came over to Jack. “We have accomodation for you, if you wish to rest. The party will be waiting for you when you wake.” Jack wondered at the stamina of these people, if they could party all night without stopping. He got to his feet and followed the leader to the door. “Doctor, Rose, they’re taking us to bed, come on.” 

They were led to a small building behind the town hall that hadn’t been visible before. It was made from the same material as the town hall with an actual door, made from tightly bound bunches of the white bamboo. There was a single bed inside that looked like it could easily hold two of the Caniffols, but only had room for one of them. “You take the bed, Rose, the Doctor and I can camp out on the floor.” She shook her head and sat on the floor beside the bed. “That’s ok, Jack, you can take the bed, I’ll be fine down here with the Doctor.” Why was he not surprised?

An hour later, even though Jack was exhausted, he still hadn’t been able to fall asleep. He lay in the bed, tossing and turning, and ended up on his side, facing the Doctor and Rose. They were spooned together, her back to his front and his arm wrapped around her. From her deep, steady breathing, he could tell Rose was sleeping, but he wasn’t sure if the Doctor was or not. Now he thought about it, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen the Doctor sleep. He shrugged to himself and turned back over to face the wall. He tried not to let jealousy take hold as he continued to chase to sleep.

Jack woke to a familiar buzz of noise that he couldn’t quite identify. He shifted and sat up, trying to gauge how long he’d been asleep, but, with no windows, he couldn’t tell. He went to open the door and found that there wasn’t a knob and the door wouldn’t budge. “Doctor...I think we have a problem.” The Doctor looked over at him, but didn’t take his arm from Rose, who was still sleeping soundly. “What’s that?” Jack pushed at the door, showing that it wouldn’t open. The Doctor got to his feet and moved over to the door. Rose sat up and asked, groggily “What’s going on?” Jack looked over his shoulder at her “We’re locked in.” He wasn’t surprised, really.

The hut was very well built and they hadn’t been able to find any way to get out after an hour of trying. The Doctor had tried sonicing every spot, but to no avail. Now, he was kneeling in front of the door, the sonic whining while he muttered under his breath about bamboo being too much like wood. Rose was pushing at the far wall, trying to see if there was a weak spot they had missed on their first three passes, and Jack was trying to see if he could separate the bed from the wall. The door opened, suddenly, smacking the Doctor in the face and knocking him back onto his butt. 

The leader entered, followed by a line of the bigger men, who’s spears had reappeared. “You will come with us.” The Doctor looked at them both and Jack closed his eyes, shaking his head as they all assumed the position, hands raised above their heads. Their hands were bound behind their backs and they were pushed out of the hut. As Jack was poked in the back with a spear, he hit with the sudden, uncontrollable urge to laugh. “Is something funny about the spears, Jack?” Rose asked, her voice dripping with annoyance. “We’re about to get killed by a bunch of psychotic, technicolor Oompa Loompas.” Rose and the Doctor joined in his laughter as they rounded the town hall, but it died out when they saw the fire pit.

There was a raging fire going under a very large, green pot with some kind of liquid bubbling in it. The party was still going on, alright. The villagers were dancing around the fire, still drinking, but now they were laughing and talking among themselves. That was the unfamiliar noise, Jack thought to himself. The main topic of discussion seemed to be whether the strangely colored visitors would taste as good as the white haired men from the next village over had. Apparently ‘guests of honor’ wasn’t quite as good a translation as it could have been.

The leader stood on a platform in front of the town hall and raised his arms for silence. “Prepare the pot!” The villagers brought various brightly colored vegetables and threw them into the pot, while the fat woman stirred the liquid with a huge wooden spoon. She winked in Jack’s direction, then continued instructing a young girl beside her on which and how much of each spice to add to the liquid.

“Any ideas, Doctor?” Rose asked, now having to shout above the boisterous laughter and calls of the villagers. They weren’t quite so cute now they had turned out to be cannibals. “Yea, plenty, but most of them depend on us not being tied up and about to be boiled alive.” “Very helpful, Doc!” Jack snapped, wishing, once again, that the Doctor would let him carry a blaster when they came to new planets. 

“You lot haven’t thought this through. There is no way you’re going to get all three of us into that pot, it’s too small!” Rose attempted, feebly, to find a way to get out of the situation. It wasn’t exactly her best ever idea. The leader nodded from his platform “Yes, we know. You will be made into stew, since you’re the smallest and will fit easily into the pot, and the other two will be packed in salt for later. The three of you will feed our entire village for the next year!” A cheer rang out. Jack closed his eyes and shook his head with a heavy sigh.

Suddenly, a high pitched whine rang out and the villagers covered their ears, squealing in shock. The Doctor raised his now untied hands, pointing the sonic at the men trying to raise their spears again. The pitch raised as he declared in a menacing voice “Pick those up and I’ll explode your heads!” They dropped the spears and the entire village ran, hands clamped over their ears. The Doctor had Rose untied in seconds and grabbed her hand “Run!” Jack was left to take off after them with his hands still tied behind his back.

They tumbled into the TARDIS together and the Doctor slammed the doors shut. Jack turned to face them, laughing, “I can’t believe we just escaped being eaten by bunch of deranged Munchkins who escaped from an explosion at the crayon factory!” Rose threw her arms around the Doctor’s neck, laughing into his chest and he wrapped his around her waist pressing his face into her hair. Jack rolled his eyes and turned his back to them, waving his still-tied hands uselessly “Hey, a little help here?!”


End file.
